Solar energy industry is constantly changing with technological advancement. It could contribute substantially only if government and private join hands to provide economical and efficient alternative power.
Last year Stanford Solar energy researchers recommended that United States and China should work more closely and effectively in this area. They have their own strengths and by collaboration they can make substantial strides and could benefit other countries too. China is of course heading others in terms of production of solar equipment and also as the largest deployer of solar power as per the opinion of experts. A lot of money is being pumped into this and many countries are signing new deals.
India’s tryst with Solar Power would be a long walk. But it is picking up; initial steps taken by the government
are clear indication of it. This week witnessed the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to India.His visit was marked with the inauguration of Uttar Pradesh’s biggest solar power plant in Mirzapur district.
The Prime Minister of India along with French President dedicated the 100 MW facility to the state. It was built by French Firm ENGIE at a cost of around 500 crore. The whole plant consists of 1, 18,600 solar panels and it sprawl over an area of 600 acres. It will produce about 1,300 crore units per month, and annually 15.6 crore units of electricity will be transmitted to the substation under the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd.
The French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi also co-hosted the first edition of the International Solar Alliances or ISA summit at Rashtrapathi Bhavan.
Now let us check what is International Solar Alliance? It is a treaty based on international inter-governmental alliance of 121 solar power rich countries falling fully or partially between the tropics of Cancer andCapricorn. The alliance was established to promote solar energy and substantially cut the use of fossil fuels in these sunshine rich countries. This time the focus was on India which was termed as key player in harnessing solar energy
Another noteworthy step was the pledge by India’s PM to generate 175 giga watts (GW) of electricity in India from renewable sources by the year 2022. Out of this 100 GW would be from Solar Power.
After wind and hydro powers, solar comes next in the line as the third most important renewable energy source globally as rated according to globally installed
capacity.
Solar energy is available in abundance all over the world, but the contradiction is that every place is not suitable for solar PV panels, solar thermal collectors or other ways of converting sunlight into useful energy.
According to a report prepared by ‘Powerweb , there is notable momentum for solar power production in large countries like India and the U.S.A. According to their production China will take the lead in the list of working force production capacity of 130.4 GW. The country is targeting its solar capacity by 81 percent last year.
The USA is equipped with technology professionals and environmental conditions for large scale solar production implementation. But with the advent of Trump, the future may be bleak in U.S. as he threatened to withdraw America from the Paris Agreement. But it is not sure, Trump’s stand may change, also a number of states are working to materialize high renewable energy goals.
Japan comes third in the line with a goal of (63.3 GW). It is working on a strategy that aims solar power to supply 10 percent of the country’s power demand by 2050.
After Japan, come India, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, France, Australia and Pakistan.
The world is facing the brunt of climate change, with global temperatures soaring with new records, especially with the indiscriminate burning of fossil fuels. The efforts are very much crucial now. Renewable energy has all the potential to take the economy forward and generate employment.
Across the world, countries are executing measures and bold steps to uptake solar projects in personal and grid level. There are believable data around that underlines the fact that solar power can outperform traditional energy generation methods in the near future. Bonnie Basil
